Justifying The Notch?

[AngryPig]

After the WAN show today with the discussion of the notch on the new Apple devices, to me it just seems like a precursor to notches on iPads and having developers design around it for all devices. It already exists on the phones, now on the laptops. If Apple wants to make an all in one OS across devices, standardizing features seems logical.

 

Thoughts?

[IPD]

Was ugly.  Is ugly.  Will forever be ugly.  Make the entire bezel thicker in that area and figure out something useful to do with it.  On my phone, that's where the ear speaker, front camera, and photovoltaic sensor live.

 

If apple is so wrapped around the axle on sound output, put speakers on the top bezel and get rid of the notch.

[da na]

2 minutes ago, IPD said:

Was ugly.  Is ugly.  Will forever be ugly.  Make the entire bezel thicker in that area and figure out something useful to do with it.  On my phone, that's where the ear speaker, front camera, and photovoltaic sensor live.

 

If apple is so wrapped around the axle on sound output, put speakers on the top bezel and get rid of the notch.

Get rid of the screen. Have a much larger front camera and speakers. That'd cut cost, increase battery life and eliminate the notch.

[Oshino Shinobu]

It's a somewhat necessary evil on phones as they're trying to maximise as much screen space as possible and it's a measure for now while better ways to hide the front camera and sensors are developed. 

 

On a laptop though, there are laptops with thinner bezels without a notch, it seems completely unnecessary. I just hope other companies don't blindly follow Apple as they often do.

[kirashi]

15 minutes ago, AngryPig said:

Thoughts?

It is of my opinion that notches are an excuse for an improperly designed bezel, similarly to how devices being glued together is an excuse for not manufacturing sustainable, user-serviceable products using screws, even if it means they might be 2mm thicker.

I'll gladly tradeoff having bezels large enough to house a laptop's WiFi antennas, webcam, IR sensors, etc. if it means I'll receive better WiFi than having the antennas along the sides, or worse, in the body of the laptop itself. Same goes for mobile devices, as I'd rather have a bezel to hold onto without inadvertently touching the screen than trying to hold my device so delicately to avoid touching the screen that I end up dropping it.

 

Before anyone comes at me, no, I don't hate clean, minimalist design - in fact, I'd love to live a more minimalist lifestyle. The problem is when such designs become so minimalist at the expense of sacrificing actual, real-world functionality that the end user has to jump through hoops just to use the product in a way that best suits their daily needs. Humans can in fact design better products, but only if we ask enough questions before manufacturing.

[dizmo]

I don't hate it. You can have the menus up there and not interfere with any of the content below. Makes perfect sense to me. Also, you can make it black (iirc). So, it really won't come up in content like it does on a phone. They're not the same.

[GuiltySpark_]

I'm a simple person. The "notch" is inside the menu bar bothering no one and taking up no space. The screen is bigger. People just like to complain.

[Obioban]

Since the screen has perfect blacks, I’m sure there will be an app to black out left/right of the notch and lower the menu bar, enlarging the top bezel. The area below the notch is 16:10– the ratio apple has used for all its recent laptops, so you’ll be left with a smaller, but reasonably ratioed screen— just like if the notch didn’t exist and there was a larger bezel.

 

For all of you that prefer form over function

 

For me, no freaking way— it’s free screen space. In normal apps it’s in the menu bar, so otherwise useless space, and video plays below it, so it doesn’t interfere with that. I am not so vain as to chose the look of a larger bezel over free extra screen space.

[IPD]

4 minutes ago, rickeo said:

I'm a simple person. The "notch" is inside the menu bar bothering no one and taking up no space. People just like to complain.

Aesthetically, I will always prefer an 18:9 form factor for a 16:9 screen--rather than trying to stick to 16:9 and putting a darn notch in.

 

Just looks cleaner.

 

[BondiBlue]

I don't like the look of it, but I don't really care all that much. 

[Ravendarat]

I will never understand how some people get so bent outta shape over a notch, Ive had it on phones for years, never bothered me, and I know it wont bother me on this computer either. I do wish they had built face ID in though if they were putting the notch in anyways. I actually kind of like having the break up of the top edge of the screen 

[DrMacintosh]

The notch on the new Macs lives in the menu bar and doesn’t cut into any content. Application windows can’t go up there because it’s the menu bar which is a no go zone for apps. In full screen mode the menu bar gets turned off so it still doesn’t impact anything. So yeah, it’s fine and a better use of space. 

[IPD]

So when do I get my Cent-iPad?

[Jaesop]

1 hour ago, IPD said:

Make the entire bezel thicker in that area and figure out something useful to do with it

Seems weird to prefer bezel over extra screen?

[DrKondziu]

8 hours ago, Jaesop said:

Seems weird to prefer bezel over extra screen?

It's more about to prefer symmetry over extra sreen.

[IPD]

What are you doing with that smidgen of "extra" screen?  Or is it that you get the same size screen, and we make the case and the bezel just a tad bigger.  And use that space in the base to put--oh i don't know--more heat piping in so the "thin and light" laptop now takes 4 minutes to overheat instead of 2?

[Helpful Tech Witch]

On the macs its ugly asf. 

bassicaly say goodbyeto any form of full screen games on the mbp. (IKIK ARM blah blah blah but still)

 

on a phone i like it, it gives you more screen space by moving the status icons and time up.

It really was an elegant design.... 4 years ago. Now, its startig to show age, and with the tech to mave that under screen coming out, its time to move on

[Moonzy]

11 hours ago, AngryPig said:

Thoughts?

remove the front camera on any device

i don't use it because i don't want to be reminded of how ugly i am

 

on laptop, just use a USB webcam, i doubt 99% of users actually uses webcam on their laptop prior to WFH

and if manufacturers squeeze a barely usable webcam into it, what's the point?

[Paul Thexton]

It’s staggering how upset people are by this. Most of it seems to stem from a fear that other manufacturers will do the same thing, maybe the “sheeple” memesult should be getting fired at manufacturers instead of consumers
 

the notch doesn’t protrude beyond the menu bar, so won’t be eating in to any content, and from all the information so far it seems when you full screen an app the menu bar area is unused, so still doesn’t eat in to any content, full screen gaming may be a different issue depending on whether they implement full screen the same way a normal App would or if they’re calling at a lower api level. 
 

I’m not expecting it to bother me, but won’t find out until I get mine. 

[Obioban]

1 hour ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

On the macs its ugly asf. 

bassicaly say goodbyeto any form of full screen games on the mbp. (IKIK ARM blah blah blah but still)

 

on a phone i like it, it gives you more screen space by moving the status icons and time up.

It really was an elegant design.... 4 years ago. Now, its startig to show age, and with the tech to mave that under screen coming out, its time to move on

The  default behavior in full screen apps (e.g. games) is to black out left and right of the notch, effectively increasing the top bezel. Developers can disable that behavior, but if they’re doing that it means they’re aware of the notch— presumably accounting for it, since it takes effort on their part to do it.

 

In not full screen apps, it fills the same space as on the phone— menus/status icons/time.

[Obioban]

47 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

remove the front camera on any device

i don't use it because i don't want to be reminded of how ugly i am

 

on laptop, just use a USB webcam, i doubt 99% of users actually uses webcam on their laptop prior to WFH

and if manufacturers squeeze a barely usable webcam into it, what's the point?

Video chatting is probably the #1 professional (“pro”) use of laptops these days. Not making it as good as possible would be completely ignoring the actual needs of the overwhelming majority of customers.

…. and I’d expect this to be a significant step over “barely useable webcam”

[Spindel]

2 justifications:

 

1. The screen below the notch is 16:10 aspect ratio

2. MacOS has a permanent menubar that is the only thing obstructed by the notch in everything except media consumption and playing games. The latter not being disturbed by the notch since point 1

 

 

But yeah it’s estetically unpleasing.

[Bramimond]

It would be too distracting for me, so I'll never get a device with a notch. In a future with no other choice, I'd use black tape to solve the problem and sacrifice the front camera. 

[TetraSky]

It all depends on the implementation IMO.

If Apple makes it so only approved apps that are updated to take in consideration the notch can go higher than 16:10 and into the notched area, they can curate the user experience there and I wouldn't be surprised if they do just that, to prevent issues where the notch blocks out important parts of whatever content is displayed.

 

While not a notch, I don't even notice the hole punch camera on my phone. Because nothing I ever do on my phone is affected by it. Videos in portrait as just under it and  in landscape, with the black bars due to the  aspect ratio, it is not even touching.

[Moonzy]

14 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

It all depends on the implementation IMO.

If Apple makes it so only approved apps that are updated to take in consideration the notch can go higher than 16:10 and into the notched area, they can curate the user experience there and I wouldn't be surprised if they do just that, to prevent issues where the notch blocks out important parts of whatever content is displayed.

 

While not a notch, I don't even notice the hole punch camera on my phone. Because nothing I ever do on my phone is affected by it. Videos in portrait as just under it and  in landscape, with the black bars due to the  aspect ratio, it is not even touching.

i'd imagine it being less glaring if the screen is OLED, or you'll have glowing black bars beside the camera

are the new macs OLED?